


For A Good Cause

by sodapeach



Category: VICTON (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Kissing Booths, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rated T for language, up10tion members say hello
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24832963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodapeach/pseuds/sodapeach
Summary: Seungwoo and Seungsik both have crushes on each other, but they also both refuse to do anything about it. Their friends have had enough.OrChan tricks Seungsik into running a kissing booth.
Relationships: Han Seungwoo/Kang Seungsik
Comments: 40
Kudos: 157
Collections: Lucky 7 Victon





	For A Good Cause

**Author's Note:**

> _Prompt #271: Seungsik doesn’t know why he agreed to run the kissing booth, but luckily most people just want a hug or a quick peck on the cheek from the cutest music major on campus (so he’s been told). Seungwoo isn’t quite so sure why his best friend insists on dragging him to the school faire when he has a thesis to write._

_ “He’s so pretty.” _

Seungsik chewed on the end of his pen, tugging at a stray piece of plastic wedged between his teeth. It was an anxious habit, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous for some reason. It felt like the room was built a foot above a crater of lava and he was sitting right on top of a molten geiser.

“You’re staring again,” Chan said, slumped back in the cushioned library armchair. He had an ipad jammed into the tops of his thighs as he read the same line over and over again, unable to concentrate from the sound of Seungsik’s incessant gnawing. “And mumbling.”

“I have to mumble, this is a library,” he said, a stickler for the rules and also for not getting caught staring down a campus senior in public.

“It’d save you a lot of time if you just shouted it from the rooftops,” he said, so used to this that it wasn’t even worth teasing him over anymore.

“Please,” Seungsik said, but then he imagined the horror of everyone in school knowing how fucking bad he had it and decided it was best to not provoke him. Even though as his friend he was mostly patient with him, Chan did have a penchant for being horribly unpredictable. “Besides, he doesn’t even know I exist. If I did do it, he’d think it was just some dumb rush ritual and think I’m just another annoying fratboy.”

“Doesn’t know you exist,” Chan half scoffed. It’s not that Chan knew things that Seungsik didn’t, but perhaps if Seungsik bothered to ask his friends (Chan) what their friends (Sejun) knew that he didn’t know, he wouldn’t have been so quickly inclined to believe that the man he had such a painful crush on wouldn’t jump at the chance to be his, err, study partner. “Aren’t you two friends?”

“He’s my…,” Seungsik thought, recalling their complicated relationship, if one could even call it a relationship. Seungwoo had been his campus tour guide when he first came to the university. Seungsik was barely a freshman with fluffy hair cut too short on the sides and cargo shorts that were surely more practical than the stylish pair of slacks he donned just a few years later, and Seungwoo wasn’t even an upperclassman yet, but he seemed to know what he was doing then or at least where he was going for the most part. He at least was able to point out the music rooms, the concert hall, Seungsik’s dorm building, and, of course, the cafeteria. Everything else was left up to chance and a complimentary campus map that looked like it had been printed for a theme park. 

The thought of never seeing him again became Seungsik’s late night  _ the one that got away _ worries as he forced himself to go to sleep on time for classes he should have never signed up for, but then he seemed to run into him at every which way on multiple occasions until the two of them became two rotating orbs floating around in the same small campus universe.

He knew his name, had learned of his Christmas Eve birthday in passing, had once sat with him on a sticky couch at a party neither one of them should have gone to, and they were comfortable enough together that if he ever saw Seungwoo dribbling a ball alone in the school’s field, he could have probably joined him if he wanted to, but he couldn’t call them friends. He didn’t feel like, as someone who dedicated so much of his time fawning over him from a distance, he had earned the right to call himself as such.

“He’s a nice senior,” he said finally with a regretful sigh. “He’s just someone I admire.”

“You like him,” Chan reminded him. “We don’t come here every day just because you think he’s neat.”

“Everyone likes him,” Seungsik reminded  _ him. _

“Maybe I don’t like him,” he said, swiping at the screen a little too vigorously to be doing homework. 

“Of course you like him,” he said as he rested his head back against the sofa. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the constant tapping of Chan’s finger on the screen as soothing as rain on a tin roof (or as annoying). “Everyone likes him.”

Seungsik dozed off quickly as if he was in the comfort of his own dorm room. Chan continued to play idly on his tablet instead of reading the PDF his professor assigned for him earlier that morning. It was peak level grinding hours for his favorite game, and he had all week to worry about his  _ exams  _ or whatever.

Across the library, Seungwoo glanced up over the book he was reading. It was a decade’s old tome on microorganisms, and he was sure it was out of date, but he needed citations for his thesis and the wikipedia article he had used to figure out a list of sources hadn’t been updated in almost a decade either. 

Other than  _ knowing  _ it was out of date because the information went against pretty much everything else he needed, the book had gone practically untouched since it entered the university library. He had yet to figure out why his thesis advisor was so damn happy about convincing him to tunnel his whole career into this niche topic that Seungwoo could barely keep his eyes open for, but it was too late to back out at that point. He just had to keep sorting through enough information until he could call himself an expert.

He had half a mind to ditch the book and just extract everything he needed from the internet, but he needed to study in the library this time every day. It was  _ imperative  _ that he studied there every single day in that exact spot at the same time because as long as he sat there at the big scuffed up piece of mahogany that had probably been there longer than the whole university had, he had a clear view of…

Seungwoo smiled and covered his face, giggling softly into the muffled web of his fingers. Seungsik, who somehow always happened to be in the library whenever he was, was sprawled out in a chair while his friend Chan sat next to him like he didn’t notice how silly he looked. He looked like a soft, sleepy starfish devoid of all grace and poise, but the sight of him sent a tickling warmth to the pit of Seungwoo’s stomach that was only matched by the secondhand embarrassment he felt seeing him that way in public.

He closed his book and tucked it under his arm and walked quietly to the other side of the library towards them. He cleared his throat to get Chan’s attention.

“Is he okay,” Seungwoo asked, quiet enough that he wouldn’t wake him or break any library noise rules.

“Hmm?” Chan asked, looking up from the daze of being lost too deeply in a game. He noticed Seungwoo standing over them and looked around to see if anyone else was there that he might have been talking to before noticing the unfortunate position that Seungsik had gotten himself into. He sat up and placed the iPad down on his lap to be polite. “Oh, he’s fine. He’s just resting.”

A light snore confirmed his statement, and Chan’s eyes widened in horror.

“ _ Sik-ah _ , wake up, you’re snoring,” he hissed, swatting at the sleeping boy who wouldn’t have even known if a fly flew into his mouth.

“Let him sleep,” Seungwoo said softly with a laugh. He gestured around them. “There’s no one here.”

Chan looked at him with a raised brow like he meant to say something. 

Seungwoo cleared his throat and looked at his feet, pretending not to notice. “Is he too tired? Has he been studying too much?”

“Oh, he’s been studying alright,” Chan said, leaning over on his propped up elbow. “What about you? I’ve never seen you close a book before.”

“I’m working on my thesis, but I–,” he started, his voice trailing off as he watched Seungsik sleep. How could he say that he stopped just to get a closer look at him? That wasn’t a thing people did. “Needed a break.”

“You’re doing your Masters, right?”

“Mhm,” he said, taking the seat across from them. Seungsik was still unconscious, and he frowned, concerned. “He’s going to get stiff like that.”

“By all means, wake him up,” Chan said sweetly. “That should be fun for everyone.”

Seungwoo scowled and shook his head. “I’d rather let him sleep. He looks tired.”

They both heard a soft mumble and turned to look at him. Seungsik’s head rolled to the side, pressing the skin of his neck together enough to form a plump second chin.  _ “Nupie.” _

“What,” Chan laughed.

_ “Snoopy,”  _ he mumbled again.  _ “Where’s Snoopy?” _

“He’s right-,” Chan started before Seungwoo waved at him to stop, wild eyed.  _ I’m gonna go,  _ Seungwoo mouthed.  _ “... here.” _

Seungwoo hurried and left, almost running out of the building. Chan had no idea why he didn’t want Seungsik to see him because for all the time Seungsik and Chan spent in the library after class specifically so that Seungsik could watch Seungwoo study, he was sure that he would have been thrilled to finally get to say hello.

Seungsik inhaled sharply, waking up from his unfortunately timed nap. He looked around in a daze and saw Chan staring at him like he was close to laughing.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Chan teased. “Did you have a good nap?”

“Shut up,” Seungsik grumbled, forcing himself to sit up. He stretched and cracked his neck loudly on both sides, regretting the position he had been left in. He yawned and breathed in deeply, the prickly feeling of an unsatisfying nap coating his tongue. Once he was kind of awake, he looked up to see what his studious Prince Charming was doing, and was completely gutted to find that he was gone. “Where’d he go?”

“I dunno,” Chan said with a shrug, sliding his tablet back into his bag. “I was reading.”

Seungsik shifted his eyes towards him, knowing too well that Chan had not been reading at all. 

“Come on,” he continued, standing up with a stretch of his own. “I want a burger.”

A burger,” Seungsik considered, and the low rumble in his stomach found the idea agreeable. It was just too unfortunate though that his mood was ruined by not noticing that Seungwoo had left already. Maybe, he thought, he could have mustered up the courage to say something to him that time if only he had had the chance.  _ Oh well. _

The burger place they walked to was right off campus, convenient enough that most people ate there when they had had enough of whatever the cafeteria was serving, but it was also a little overpriced so it wasn’t usually terribly crowded except this time, not only was it terribly crowded, it was  _ loud. _

The host was a fellow student, and one they often babied whenever they saw him. He had unadorned holes in his ears because of work standards and a bright smile that broke slightly at the stress of a packed house.

“Hello, welcome to Master Burger,” Subin said, his naturally soft voice strained over the murmur of the crowd. “If you’ll take one of these buzzers and have a seat outside, we can call you in twenty minutes when a table is ready!”

“If it’s okay with you, Mr. Burger Man, we’ll go sit with Sejun,” Chan teased. “He's here, right?”

Subin palmed his own forehead. “Oh, god, sorry, yeah, he’s in the back.”

“Don’t work so hard,” Seungsik pouted, resisting the urge to ruffle his shaggy hair. 

Subin smiled softly and straightened himself up, turning to lead them to Sejun. “It’s not so bad!”

“Big crowd,” Chan said as Subin walked with them, pretending to find a table for a couple of strangers.

“I think there was a tournament thing for a bunch of the school teams,” he said, looking around the room. “Like all the sports majors are here.”

“We’re looking for Sejun in a sea of sports majors,” Seungsik giggled, but Chan and Subin just looked at him like he had said something painfully obvious. This came to no surprise because no one ever thought his jokes were funny. Seungwoo would have laughed. Probably. Because he was nice and always laughed when he said something that no one else thought was funny.

He bit his lip and kept his mouth shut. His joke was funny because the restaurant was packed with sports majors, and Sejun wasn’t a sports major. He could have totally been one if he wanted to though based on how much time he spent at the gym, but no, Sejun was a creative writing major, but no one ever thought his jokes were funny. Except for Seungwoo though because he was nice.

He didn’t have enough time to be too bitter about experiencing the real life version of being left on read because moments later, Subin led them to Sejun’s table, and upon further inspection of said table, Seungsik’s stomach dropped to the floor. He stared like a deer in headlights at the profile of a perfect nose that was only matched by the profile of a perfect jawline and a perfect throat and a perfect mouth and a–.

_ “Sejunie!”  _ Chan called out as he slid into the booth with him. He kissed him on the cheek with a loud smack before stealing a handful of fries off of his plate and stuffing them all in his mouth at once.

“Hey, get your own,” Sejun whined before grinning playfully, never one to get angry at anything.

Seungsik stood awkwardly, not knowing what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to slide in the booth next to Chan? Was he supposed to wait outside for a table? He wished someone would point him in the right direction because surely nothing he came up with on his own was going to be the right decision.

Seungwoo decided for him. He slid over in his own booth, looking up at Seungsik with perfect wide eyes and patted the spot next to him. “You can sit with me…”

“Oh,” he said, flustered. He sat down in the booth gingerly, keeping a decent amount of space between them and folded his hands together in his lap. “Thanks.”

“Mhm,” he said, returning back to the menu in his hands.

Seungsik glanced at Chan who was practically glaring through him like a cat watching a caged mouse. He smiled wickedly and gave him a wink, and Seungsik had half a mind to reach across the table and choke him for it. But he had to be on his best behavior because Seungwoo was there quietly looking over the menu like a very polite and handsome boy. The sight of it made his heart tighten in his chest.

Even though Sejun already had his food, it was nice to see that the other three of them could still order, but unfortunately, there was only one menu on the table, and he wouldn’t dare bother Subin for another one while he was under that much stress.

Chan knew what he wanted. A bacon and cheese deluxe, no plants, and an extra side of onion rings. It was his favorite and probably could have been liquified and used as diesel fuel, but it was his heart on the line, not Seungsik’s. Seungsik on the other hand wasn’t much of a regular. He was more of a pizza in the dorm kind of guy so he was a bit at a loss. The best he could do was try to remember what they had, pretend like he wasn’t hungry and hope that the noise was loud enough to cover his treacherous tummy, or order a bacon and cheese deluxe and ask his future cardiologist for forgiveness.

“Do you want to…,” Seungwoo started as he slid the flat laminated menu across the table towards him.

“Do you know what you want already,” he asked, not wanting to rush him into handing it over so suddenly.

“We could look together,” he suggested, scooting towards him by just the smallest amount.

“Oh okay,” Seungsik said, shy. He pushed the menu back a bit to position it between them and looked over the tiny print and the pictures, but no matter how many times he read over it, he couldn’t comprehend anything because the warmth of Seungwoo hovering next to his head was making it impossible to concentrate. He smelled like soap and a sweet cologne or aftershave, and out of the corner of his eye, Seungsik saw the way his hair dangled over his eyes making him look half the size he was. 

Meanwhile, Seungwoo dug his nails into his thighs to keep himself from slipping and leaning in too close. He had no idea Seungsik and Chan were going to wander in right after he bailed from the library. Seungsik was obviously uncomfortable so he wasn’t sure if Chan had told him that he had sat with them for a few minutes while Seungsik took a big enough nap to be considered  _ noisy  _ or not, but he certainly wasn’t about to bring it up for him.  _ Hey, you’re kind of cute when you flop over and snore like you’re gargling mouthwash _ didn’t exactly seem like the impression he wanted to leave, but they were having dinner together? Finally? After all these years they were sharing a meal? At the same table? In the same booth? It was like the heavens were rewarding him for giving up on that cursed, unwanted textbook.

“Does anything look good to you,” he asked quietly, using the menu as an excuse to lean in closer. Truthfully, he was just going to get a garden burger and a milkshake because anything heavier would have been an assault on his academically anxious stomach, but this was an opportunity he could not waste. As he leaned in, he (accidentally) brushed up against his cheek, causing Seungsik to jerk away.  _ Oops.  _

“Not yet,” he almost stuttered. Seeing him so nervous made Seungwoo want to reach out and hold his hand. He must have been having a hard time with his classes if he was this unsettled.

Seungsik could feel Seungwoo staring at him, and he knew he probably thought he was being weird for taking so long but all he knew about the menu they looked over together was that it had food on it and that it might have even had a back side.

“That’s okay,” Seungwoo smiled softly, sliding it more towards him. “I think I’m good now.”

“Oh good,” he said, and even though he could concentrate better, the void from having him off his shoulder was a little disappointing. Not long after, the waiter came and took their order quickly, in a bit of a rush. Chan ordered his usual, Seungwoo got a veggie burger (and Seungsik meant to ask him if he was a vegetarian later if he got the chance), and Seungsik, who hadn’t yet found his last straggling braincell, pointed down at the menu and went with the first thing his finger landed on.

The four of them talked mostly about school until their food came. Sejun slowed down to join them and focused mainly on his depleting soda while Chan stole his fries when he thought he wasn’t looking. Seungwoo talked about his thesis which Seungsik was sure would have been riveting if any of them had any idea what the hell he was talking about.

“It’s boring, isn’t it,” he said, sliding down in his booth.

_ “No, of course not!”  _ the three chimed.

Seungwoo looked at Sejun first and frowned. Sejun looked down at his food and poked at his burger.

“It’s just complicated,” he said, feeling the weight of Seungwoo’s insecurity bearing down on him. “Like, it’s  _ big science  _ stuff. Like  _ lab coat and goggles  _ stuff.”

“You wear a lab coat?” Seungsik asked, looking at his face fully for the first time since he sat down. For some reason, Seungwoo felt proud, and the urge to exaggerate a little became impossible to resist.

“Yeah I wear a lab coat,” he said coolly. “But only in the  _ lab _ .”

Seungwoo heard a sound like someone was choking across the table, but he simply chose to ignore it. At that moment, he was busy studying the features on Seungsik’s face. Parts of him were sharp and daring like the corners of his mouth or the depth of his eyes, but then others were soft and warm like the curve of his nose and the place just below his chin that Seungwoo thought would be an excellent place to rest his fingers.

Seungsik found the idea of Seungwoo bustling around in a lab coat surrounded by scales and beakers well into the early hours of the morning particularly interesting. He wondered if he ever had any trouble moving specimens around in those tiny glass vials with those large but slender hands of his.

Someone cleared their throat.

“Hmm?” Seungsik and Seungwoo both hummed in surprise as they tore away from each other to see what their friends wanted.

“You guys having a good conversation over there?” Chan asked, a french fry dangling from two pinched fingers like it was a cigarette.

Seungsik furrowed his brow, confused, and even Seungwoo looked puzzled. They hadn’t really said anything outside of the group conversation except for that very basic question, but yet Chan and Sejun were glaring at them as if they were being rude.

“What,” Seungsik asked. “I just asked if he wore a lab coat.”

Sejun and Chan simultaneously picked up their drinks, slipped their straws into their mouths, and looked away which just aggravated Seungwoo more. 

“What,” Seungwoo asked, and there was enough authority to his voice to make Sejun sit up straight with his shoulders squared.

“At ease soldier,” Chan muttered. Sejun relaxed and so did Seungwoo. Chan took another sip of his soda, unintimidated. “We didn’t say anything.”

At that point the waiter returned with a plate of food, and no one cared about snide comments or lab coats any longer. Seungsik looked down at what he had picked randomly in a rush. It was a grilled chicken breast on a brioche bun with a too thick slice of a beefsteak tomato and a lettuce leaf that spilled over the sides. It was really too tall for a sandwich.

Seungsik was already self conscious about how big his mouth was after a lifetime of teasing, but it seemed his only choice was to unhinge his own jaw like a snake and bite into the beast before him. Thankfully, everyone else was too busy with their own food to care how he managed to stuff it into his mouth.

Sejun picked the onion rings off of Chan’s plate as payment for the fries he stole while Chan was preoccupied with a drop of burger juice that dribbled shamelessly down his chin. Seungwoo on the other hand ate politely, taking small, modest bites of his veggie burger off to the side.

“Is it good,” Seungsik asked, genuinely curious.

“Mhm,” Seungwoo said as he finished chewing. “It’s planty.”

“Is that how they would describe it in the  _ lab,”  _ Sejun said before taking a bite out of his own burger. He chewed smuggly with full round cheeks, and Chan snickered next to him. Seungsik glared at Chan who looked back at him boldly, daring him to say anything to either of them.

Seungwoo let out a long sigh. “Is your burger good?”

“Yes,” Sejun said with a grin.

“Then maybe you should eat it before it gets cold,” he said, bitter. He reached out for his drink, and remembered with regret that he forgot to buy a milkshake. He twisted his mouth. It was probably too late to order one, and he already had enough food to finish with the added nerves from the person sitting next to him who only managed to ask him a single question before their whole conversation got spoiled by Sejun and Chan’s teasing. If there was one thing he was sure about, if he did order milkshakes, those two would  _ not  _ be getting one. Seungsik could have a milkshake if he wanted one because Seungsik was nice. He could have his own if he wanted or he could share Seungwoo’s if he wasn’t in the mood for a whole milkshake by himself. Seungwoo thought about sharing a milkshake with Seungsik through two red straws and felt his cheeks burn.

He turned to Seungsik right as he saw him open up as wide as he could to bite into the billowy burger bun and almost choked on a laugh that honked from his throat. Seungsik jumped, startled, and placed his sandwich back down suddenly without getting to eat anything.

“Sorry,” Seungwoo mumbled. “I was just going to ask if you like milkshakes.”

“Wow it seems that I am done eating,” Chan announced, a little more loudly than necessary.

“Me too!” Sejun shouted. “All done!”

“Oh, we’re leaving,” Seungsik asked, a little unsure because not only had they just gotten there, they had only just then gotten their food. A half eaten sandwich sat on his plate with a mountain of untouched fries, and the only part of his meal he had had the chance to properly consume was the drink he nursed while trying to soothe his impossibly dry mouth. 

Chan slid off of his seat followed by Sejun like the place was on fire. “You stay here, we’re going to head out.”

“No, that’s okay, I don’t want to get locked out of our dorm,” Seungsik said as he reached for his wallet, offering an apologetic nod to Seungwoo who was left alone and confused. “Again.”

“I won’t lock you out,” Chan insisted. “ _ Again… _ ”

Seungsik squinted at him, recalling the many times Chan had locked him out at night, and even though the library was quiet, it was not the best place for a person to sleep (except for that one nap he took earlier, but even then it had caused him to miss Seungwoo leaving, ignoring the fact that he was sitting right next to him at that moment).

“I got it,” Seungwoo said, pushing his card away, their fingers brushing together slightly enough that Seungsik jerked his hand back like  _ he  _ was on fire.

“No, what,” he asked. “We can’t let you do that, it's fine.”

“Sejun has no problem with it,” Seungwoo said simply, grabbing his own wallet from his pocket. He fished out a couple of bills that made Seungsik’s stomach flip. Four people on one check at  _ Master Burger  _ was like a down payment on a new car. No it wasn’t, but it was a direct attack on a college student’s budget nonetheless.

“Let me get it,” Seungsik said, doing the math in his head. If he paid for all four of them, all he had to do was replace at least eight meals the next week with cheese puffs and it would balance out.

“No, I’ve got it,” Seungwoo waved him off. He didn’t know why Seungsik was being so difficult.  _ He  _ was the oldest and the senior, and Seungsik was about to get ditched by the guy with the key to his room so the more he argued with him, the worse off he was going to be. Although, that was the second most he had said to him that day, so maybe he didn’t mind arguing over the check with him...

“This is too much,” he muttered. 

“No, it’s not,” Seungwoo said, tucking the bills under his plate. He slid into Seungsik, forcing him out of the booth in a hurry so that he couldn’t stop him anymore, and Seungsik almost tripped as he stumbled out. “I’ve got this.”

Seungsik’s eyebrows drew together, but he didn’t say anything more. It didn’t feel right to bicker with him. They weren’t that close, but it was because they weren’t that close that he felt like it was unfair that Seungwoo had to pay for more than just himself and maybe Sejun, but the look on Seungwoo’s face said that he wasn’t interested in breaking down their finances so Seungsik had no choice but to drop it. 

“You don’t have to come with us,” Chan said through his teeth. “Really.”

“Oh!” Seungsik shouted, immediately understanding what was going on. He gave Chan a friendly little wink. “Aha! I got it! Why don’t you give me your key then, and I’ll see you at the dorm later.”

“That’s not what I–,” Chan started before looking at Sejun who was just as befuddled as he was. “You should finish eating.”

“No, that’s okay,” he said, being super helpful. Seungsik most certainly would have never done anything to prevent someone from spending time with the guy he was into. He didn’t know Chan and Sejun were a thing, but he of all people could certainly take a hint.

Chan stared at him, lost, and blinked. “Hey, Seungwoo wanna come hang out with us?”

“Ah yeah, Seungsik you should come too,” Sejun chimed in.

Seungwoo looked at Seungsik for a hint whether or not he should agree to go. Did Seungsik want to hang out with him? Was he itching to get away? Did Chan and Sejun want some alone time because  _ that  _ was new and something he was very well going to have to investigate at some point in the near future. Guessing by Seungsik’s reaction, though, he knew all about it so that was definitely what was going on. If Sejun and Chan needed some alone time, he and Seungsik most definitely did not need to tag along.

“I think I’m going to hang out here for a bit,” Seungwoo said and then immediately had to come up with an excuse because they were all supposed to leave to clear up a table. “I want to try and catch Subin on his break.”

“We could all see Subin,” Sejun almost shouted, grabbing the attention of a nearby group of gymnasts. He nodded a quick apology, blameless dimples on full display, and one of the gymnasts looked away in a fit giggles, blushing like a bruised apple. Sejun used his looks like a weapon, and he used them well. 

Seungsik hummed, evaluating the situation. If Chan wanted his alone time, it was better that they all didn’t stay so he decided that if he broke off from the group, that would encourage a dispersal in his favor. It was settled. He had to be helpful. “I think I’m going to head back then. I’m kind of tired.”

“Ah, yeah you were pretty out of it earlier,” Seungwoo mused.

Seungsik paled.  _ “What?” _

“Hey, yeah, let’s go,” Chan grabbed both Seungsik and Sejun and yanked them out of the restaurant before Seungwoo had the chance to explain that he had seen him napping. Seungsik looked over his shoulder, horrified, and it seemed that Chan hadn’t mentioned that he had stopped by, but then again, Seungwoo had panicked as soon as it looked like Seungsik was going to wake up and ran away before he could spot him.

Seungsik stumbled over his own feet as he was dragged away. He had so many questions, but he wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be asking. Had Seungwoo seen him? Why were they running? Was he really about to go back to his dorm and stay up all night until Chan got back so he could let him in?

There wasn’t enough time to ask any of the questions he had because the next thing he knew, he and Chan went in one direction, and Sejun went in the other.

“Where’s he going,” Seungsik asked.

“His dorm probably,” Chan shrugged as the two of them walked back to their own building. It was dark, and the air had a slight dampness to it that made Seungsik’s clothes stick to skin, but maybe it was just because he had been sweating but hadn’t realized it before. The restaurant wasn’t that hot, but then again, it could have just been the weather.

The walk back left a regretful ache in his chest that he chalked up to abandoning a half eaten plate of food that was too expensive to be thrown in the trash for no good reason. It had nothing to do with the fact that he and the others had left Seungwoo alone with the bill and not even a proper goodbye. He was pretty sure.

As they wandered onto the path that led to their dorm, a melancholy as thick as the humid night air came over him, causing him to drag his feet as he walked. Chan didn’t seem to notice, but he managed to match his pace anyway.

Chan hummed to himself, and the sound was enough to pull Seungsik out of his thoughts.

“What is it,” he asked

“Nothing,” he said, his voice pensive, but then like someone flipped a switch, he changed and became energetic again. “Hey, can I have your Netflix password?”

“Oh, sure,” Seungsik said, surprised. “That’s fine.”

Seungsik tossed and turned all night until the bed he slept on became an uncomfortable furnace. Chan snored softly in the bunk above his, and the room flickered with the soft glow of a laptop screen. He had fallen asleep binge watching something, but Seungsik could barely make out the distorted audio from his headphones.

He couldn’t help but feel unsettled. He knew falling asleep in the library was what was keeping him up all night or at least making it harder for him to finally fall asleep, but something told him he had missed something. Maybe he had said or done something that wasn’t quite right. But then he thought about how he left Seungwoo alone like that and his stomach twisted into a tight knot.

That wasn’t okay. He needed to find a way to apologize for the way they had all abandoned him or pay him back somehow or something. He had to make things right because if there was one thing he wasn’t was a flake. 

There was just one problem. 

Based on how sick he felt and how nervous he naturally became anytime he was within three feet of Seungwoo, he wasn’t sure he could even manage to speak with him in order to say or do anything remotely helpful. Truthfully, he couldn’t even bear to look at him.

With a pained frown, he reached over and grabbed his phone, pulled up his study playlist, and wedged his earbuds into his ears. He closed his eyes and let the soothing sounds of Bach and Mozart relax him into what could have been called a half sleep where his mind wandered between the melodies and the thought that perhaps he had somehow offended the senior whose opinion of him he cared very much about.

The next day Seungwoo wandered into the library, nervous and unsure. It was finally time he did something, he thought. He had been so close the night before to having a real conversation with Seungsik that he was practically beside himself all night thinking about all the possibilities. He thought about how Seungsik’s ears perked up when he said he wore a lab coat, and it was the first time since he had flung himself into his destined field that he actually felt  _ cool _ about it. Like, his friends and family teased him relentlessly about how he went from being the high school soccer team captain to a squirrely little lab rat in a span of a semester, but for him, he didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to be passionate about all kinds of different things. But still, he was aware that the shift was strange to anyone else, but Seungsik actually seemed interested and not in a condemning way. It was a relief because Seungwoo may have cared a little bit about what he thought about him, but it wasn’t long enough to really know what his opinion of him was. Maybe, he thought, once he saw him at the library, he could finally strike up a conversation to know for sure.

As he walked into the building, his pace hastened a little inappropriately for the location, but even as he tried to slow down to something more casual, his body projected itself forward at lightning speed. He was never one to handle excitement well. He had a terrible poker face and wore his heart on his sleeve, but he supposed at least that kept him honest. So honest, in fact, that he often resorted to not talking because he was scared that if he did, he would reveal too much, but that was all about to change because he was finally ready to speak up. 

Only, when he walked into the library and set his backpack down on the big slab of mahogany he always sat at, Seungsik wasn’t there. 

He swallowed. 

That was okay. He was a bit early, and that only meant that Seungsik hadn’t had a chance to get there yet, or maybe he was just running late. Seungwoo nodded to himself slightly. There was no need to be impatient. Seungsik would get there soon, and while he waited, he could come up with a few conversation starters. 

_ Hey, I heard you like lab coats. _

_ No, that’s not good. _

_ Yo, you like science? _

_ God, who am I, Bill Nye? _

_ I think you have the prettiest smile on campus. _

_ Maybe not that one either. _

_ Do you wanna go see a movie with me? _

_ Ahahaha I wish. Stupid.  _

_ Okay, let’s be serious. Baby steps, Seungwoo. Baby steps. Okay, how about… hmm. _

_ How are your classes going? _

_ Yeah, that’s better! Something easy. No pressure. _

_ Hey, if you ever want to study together, there’s plenty of room at this table thing. _

_ I’m so smart this is great! We can study together! _

But while Seungwoo was busy day dreaming about studying together, he wasn’t actually getting any real studying done at all. It was probably his least productive day in months, if he thought about it, and it wasn’t just the daydreams that kept him occupied. Every few minutes he glanced up from his ignored open textbook to check on Seungsik’s favorite chair that remained vacant. He checked his phone to see what time it was, and it seemed that an hour had passed since he first got there. But no Seungsik? Strange.

He was always there.

So where the hell was he?

Seungwoo’s stomach sank. What if Seungsik was sick? What if his dinner gave him food poisoning? He barely ate anything the night before so was he already not feeling well? Seungwoo kicked himself for not noticing. Of course he wasn’t feeling well. He was all sweaty and jittery and barely said anything at all. It was only right that Seungwoo should have checked on him, but he didn’t because he was too busy thinking about milkshakes. Now that it was obvious that Seungsik was sick, he needed to go find him and bring him some medicine or carry him to the doctor because surely he wouldn’t be strong enough to get there himself, but first Seungwoo had to find him.

He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to, though. 

After some quick thinking, he realized that one of his friends was close with Seungsik’s roommate. Sejun would be able to find out pretty quickly, he guessed. Seungwoo texted him immediately asking if he knew if he was okay, and a few moments later, Sejun replied that he wasn’t sure, but he would text Chan for him since he didn’t have his number. He didn’t have Seungsik’s number either. How much precious time had he wasted at university by not exchanging numbers with his peers?

Seungwoo closed his book and packed it away like he was going to run to his rescue the second he received his location. He wasn’t sure why he was acting like that when he wasn’t even close enough to him to show up at his dorm unprompted. He wasn’t even close enough to him to know where his dorm was.

His phone buzzed against the table, and he almost jumped in his seat in surprise. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he prepared to take off. The message was simple, but he wasn’t sure if it was helpful.  _ Chan said he wasn’t at their dorm, but he thinks he’s off practicing somewhere. _

_ Practicing… okay. _

Seungwoo was pretty sure he wasn’t on any teams or in any clubs, but there was actually no way he would have been able to know for sure. What could he have been practicing for? Baseball? No, that didn’t seem right. Chess? Seungwoo frowned. No, that wasn’t it either.

_ Does anyone have any questions? _

_ Excuse me, but I was wondering if you knew where the music department is? _

Seungwoo almost cheered. Of course! Seungsik was a music major! He had to practice music! If he was in his dorm, Chan would have known, but maybe practicing in the dorms was too annoying? Maybe the other people who lived there complained about the noise? Not that Seungwoo thought his music would have been noisy, but hungover college kids were a different breed. One wild clarinet could have completely brought the whole building down in the worst way. Of course he couldn’t practice in his room.

Seungwoo stood up and grabbed his things. If he was going to go find him, he had to be smart, and a smart person would have started at the most obvious place for a music major to practice— the arts building.

It was on the opposite side of campus, and he thought as his feet pounded quickly in the grass, that Seungsik was amazing for managing to study in the library every day if this was how far he had to walk from his own department. Of course there was a shuttle, but who expected Seungwoo to stand around at the east side stop for thirty minutes while it teetered along the path at its own leisurely rate? Not him, of course.

Out of breath, he finally made it to the building, and followed the trail of direction plaques up the stairs to the third floor and down three winding corridors until he heard the sound of music, so sad that it almost brought him to his knees.

For the first time that day, Seungwoo moved slowly like time itself froze around him. He was scared that if he made a noise, it would ruin the somber melody that came from one of the practice rooms, but he wasn’t sure which room it was. The acoustics in the hall were terrible and made each note echo and bounce all over the place like he was dreaming, so all he could do was sneak a look into the windows until he found him.

The first few rooms were empty, and he was about to convince himself that the person he heard wasn’t Seungsik at all but an apparition (or a different music major who needed a hug, by the sound of it), but in the very last room in the hall, he saw him.

Seungsik sat in the middle of the room with a cello between his legs. The bow he held was steady in his hand like an extension of himself, and he was lost fully in concentration as each note rang out one by one in perfect harmony. It was just him and his instrument, and it was the only way he knew how to clear his head that wasn’t self destructive. The music came naturally, and even when his fingers slipped as he played something he didn’t mean to, it felt like it belonged together.

Something in the air prickled at the back of his neck like he was being watched, and when he looked up, a flash moved quickly across the window. Seungsik’s heart raced.  _ A ghost?! _

He had to investigate.

He propped up his cello on its stand and hurried before the lingering phantom got away. He flung the door open and ran out into the hall, brought to life by the prospect of seeing a real life ghost in the  _ err  _ flesh, but what he saw wasn’t a ghost at all, but a real living person running away, and that person looked extremely familiar.

_ “Seungwoo?”  _ Seungsik called out, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him or not. The person he was sure was Seungwoo froze in his tracks and turned around sheepishly with a shy smile.

“Hey there,” Seungwoo said awkwardly with a wave.

“What are you doing here,” he asked, stunned. He never had a reason to be on this side of campus, and if Seungsik’s guess for the time was right, he should have been in the library studying.

“Oh, I was just taking a walk,” he said casually.

“In the music department?”

“I needed a break from studying,” he said with an exaggerated stretch. “Breaks over!”

He spun on his heel ready to leave, but Seungsik wasn’t convinced. “On this side of campus?”

“Yeah, it’s so nice over here,” he almost shouted. “Smells like paint!”

“Were you here to see me?”

Seungwoo tensed. He turned back towards him and licked a pair of dry, anxious lips. “Ah…”

Seungsik dropped his head and sighed. “I was worried I did something to upset you, but I couldn’t remember what I did, so if I did, please let me know what it was so I can apologize.”

Seungwoo was thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t that why you’re here? I did something weird at the burger place, right?”

“No,” he laughed. “You didn’t do anything weird at all! But I did come to check on you…”

“For what?”

Seungwoo wasn’t sure if he was supposed to step closer towards him or back away to give him space. This was the most they had ever talked, and it sounded more like they were about to have a  _ talk  _ than a little  _ chit chat.  _ Seungwoo wasn’t ready for a  _ talk.  _

“You weren’t at the library so I thought you might have gotten food poisoning,” he explained. It was mostly the truth. 

“No food poisoning here,” he laughed. “Just, uhh, playing the cello.”

“Yeah, I saw so I was gonna head back and work on my thesis some more,” Seungwoo said. “Good luck with practicing.”

“Good luck with your thesis,” he said, and when Seungwoo turned to leave, Seungsik’s mouth opened up on its own. “Wait!”

He had to think quickly, but they were  _ talking,  _ and their friends weren’t around to tease them or pull one of them away _.  _ This was a huge improvement, but he still had no real reason to stop him. It was time to test his improvisational skills.

“Do you wanna hear my song,” he asked.  _ No, that’s not a good idea, oh god, please say no. It’s not even finished. _

“Your song?”

_ Oh god, shut up, Seungsik. Now’s your chance to back out!  _ “Yeah, it’s for a composition workshop. We have to write our own pieces and perform them in a showcase in a few weeks. That’s what I’ve been practicing.” 

_ Well now you’ve done it.  _

Seungwoo blinked. He was touched that he would ask him to listen to his music and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. Of course he had to listen to it. What monster would have said no? “Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Really?” Seungsik asked like he expected him to say no.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, and his feet carried him forward before either one of them could decide that it was a little strange for them to be having that kind of moment. He dismissed it as a music major needing an audience, and he was happy to be that audience for him. He was his lab rat. 

He followed Seungsik into the practice room. There was soundproof padding on the walls, and the floors were unnaturally soft underneath his feet which he assumed was for more soundproofing. However, based on the free concert he received only moments ago, he wasn’t so sure that the soundproofing actually worked at all. At least it technically worked out in his favor by the way that it led him to him…

“Have a seat,” Seungsik gestured to one of the chairs. 

He watched him grab a stand from the side of the room and place it infront of where he had been practicing earlier. He took a stack of sheet music and placed the pages on the metal stand, but they immediately fell to the ground, slipping from his nervously fumbling fingers.

Seungsik swore under his breath and crouched down to pick them up off the floor, and Seungwoo moved to help him, but he was worried if he did, he would have stacked them up in the wrong order. Also, they felt like living pieces of Seungsik like scattered diary pages, and Seungwoo was afraid if he looked at one of them too closely, it would have been an invasion of his privacy.

“Screw it,” he said, annoyed. He dropped the stack back on the desk and moved the stand away to the side. He took his seat and put the cello in its position and took a determined breath. “I don’t need sheet music.”

“If it helps, I don’t think I’d notice the difference,” Seungwoo offered, sitting politely like a young student on a class trip to the orchestra. Seungsik bit down on his lip and smiled to himself, finding him quite cute and patient. 

His hands shook so much that when he placed the bow on the strings, it slipped with an awful screech.

“Sorry,” he muttered, wincing at himself.

“It’s okay,” Seungwoo assured him, and the calmness to his voice encouraged him to try again. Seungsik took a deep breath and closed his eyes, convincing himself that he was alone in the room again and that this was just any regular practice session even if the person sitting across the room from him shook him to the core.

When Seungsik closed his eyes, Seungwoo held his breath, afraid to make a sound, and he didn’t release it until the first note rang through the room. He expected it to be shaky based on how Seungsik had been acting, but the first low note resonated within the deepest part of his chest, and it broke his heart.

The song itself was sorrowful like a long cold winter spent alone for too long. He wasn’t an expert on music, but he was sure that each note had been strategically placed in a way that was meant to hurt him. 

Seungsik’s face was animated, though. It was like he was watching a scene unfold that only he could see, and Seungwoo could only interpret it from the soundtrack he provided. Miles and miles of snow lead to still waters that below the surface were deadly and tumultuous like the shrill, quick sounds woven within the low thunderous drawl. Agony seeped through to his fingers and toes like frostbite, and he found it hard to breathe as the cold air hardened his lungs.

Seungsik scowled into the crescendo, and that’s when Seungwoo heard it. It was the song that Seungsik heard as he played. The rest of the orchestra came in at once first with the strings, then the brass, then the woodwinds. A grand piano chased the melody like a wild animal hunting an injured fawn in the woods, and the only salvation was the tempered harp that sated the beast hiding within the music. 

It was the most beautiful song he had ever heard in his life, and just as soon as it had started, it had ended.

Seungwoo felt like he had been yanked out from a deep sleep underwater. Everything about the person he was in that moment felt weighted and confused. Even Seungsik seemed disoriented as he held the bow in his hand, unable to move it away. 

Seungsik’s mind was somewhere else entirely. What had he done? Why had he played that for him of all people? He hadn’t given the piece a name yet because it was still a scattered collection of his own thoughts, but the regret set in too fast because if there was even a chance that Seungwoo could interpret it, he was royally screwed.

“That was,” Seungwoo started before swallowing. He wiped at his eyes like he had been holding them open for too long and took a deep breath. Seungsik was sure he hated it. It was boring and melodramatic. It was noise. Worse, it was boring and melodramatic noise. “Incredible.”

Seungsik’s eyes widened in surprise.  _ “Really?” _

“Yeah, it kind of knocked me out, though,” he laughed. “I think it needs a warning label.”

Seungsik sank back in his chair and laughed brightly. “Thank you.”

Seungwoo exhaled like he was worn out, and Seungsik felt a wave of relief. It wasn’t as bad as he thought. “What’s it about?”

Or it was a whole lot worse.

The song in question was the classic example of an artist’s self sacrifice. He had metaphorically bled out onto the page, revealing the deepest parts of himself that very few people ever got to see. It was a tale of unrequited love and hopelessness as one is forced to live knowing that their situation is the consequence of inaction. That the person they wanted most could never be theirs because they were too scared to do anything about it. It was self imposed solitude driven by fear.

And the person it was about was staring right at him.

“It’s just a tune I liked,” Seungsik lied. “I hummed it one day in the shower, and decided to roll with it.”

Seungwoo’s mouth twisted into a pout as he tilted his head, thinking. “Hmm.”

“What?”

“I don’t know that much about music, but it feels like it means something.”

“What do you think it means,” Seungsik’s mouth, driven by curiosity, betrayed him.

“I don’t know anything,” he said shyly, wrapping his hands around his knees.

“You know a lot,” he said.

“I don’t know the secrets of music making, but it sounds very sad,” Seungwoo mused. “It makes me feel like my heart is being broken over and over again, and I just hope…”

Seungsik leaned forward, hanging onto his every word.

“That the person who wrote it doesn’t have a reason to hurt that much.”

Seungwoo immediately regretted saying so because it was really none of his business, but fortunately, Seungsik didn’t seem to be offended by it. At least he hoped he wasn’t.

“I promise you that the person who wrote that is living a happy life,” he laughed, but he wasn’t being condescending. In fact, he was so assuring that Seungwoo didn’t really believe him at all, but Seungwoo could take a hint so he stood up and brushed himself off.

“I’m glad I got to hear it,” he said. 

“Thank you for listening,” Seungsik said, standing up too. “Break’s over?”

“I think so,” he said. “I’ll be in the library working if you need anything.”

“I’ll be here, I guess,” he shrugged.

“Don’t spend too much time playing in here by yourself,” he laughed. “Call Chan or something.”

“Don’t spend too much time working on your thesis by yourself,” he countered. “Call Sejun.”

Seungwoo nodded, understanding. It was interesting how time spent at university was sold as a social experience, but when it came down to it, a lot of the time was spent burying oneself underneath a mountain of study material until something intelligent crawled out.

But was it selfish to say he missed being social? This single interaction had woken him up from a deep sleep, and he hated that he had to say goodbye. He hoped one day he would have the courage to reach out to him again but in a more substantial way, but for now he would have to settle for the privilege of getting to see him in his own space.

_ I hope I’m able to say something before one of us graduates. _

After Seungwoo left, all Seungsik could do was remain standing in the center of the room, confused but not thoughtless. He hadn’t gone to the library that day because he was too ashamed of himself to go watch him study like if Seungwoo looked at him he would collapse from embarrassment after spending the whole night and morning cringing at himself for how things went the day before, but Seungwoo came looking for him? And on the other side of campus, no less. And Seungsik knew personally that that was _ not  _ a short walk. He had considered on multiple occasions investing in a pair of rollerblades or a skateboard, if he knew how to use either, just to make the trek back and forth more bearable.

It was strange, and he was sure that he would spend the next three days dissecting and analyzing it, but at that moment the only way he could justify it to himself was by reminding himself that Seungwoo was a respected senior with an unmarred reputation so of course he checked up on people. 

Of course he did.

Night came, and Seungsik had played more than his mind could take. His own melody had become an uninvited guest following him around and blocking out the noise from the outside world, but it was the last thing he wanted to be thinking about now that he was done practicing for the day. 

He slugged his way to his dorm and moved like molasses towards his bed. He knew he needed to go shower first, but after not sleeping a wink the night before, he didn’t really care.

“Ah, there you are,” Chan said, slinging his legs off the side of the top bunk and almost smacking Seungsik in the face with his feet. “Just the man I was looking for!”

Seungsik sat down on the mattress, and Chan climbed down and took his place on a rolling computer chair they both shared. “What’s up?”

“Did you see Seungwoo today?”

“I went to practice instead,” he said, purposely not telling the full story.

“Yeah, but did he find you,” Chan asked.

“How did you know he was looking for me,” he frowned.

“Because when you didn’t show up at the library, he got worried and texted Sejun, who texted me, who happens to be your roommate who you make go boy watching with,” he explained, using his finger to connect the dots on an invisible map.

“Ah,” Seungsik said, a little nervous. “Yeah, he found me.”

“Great! Did you guys talk?”

“Mmmm, not much,” he said, considering. “He listened to my song and went back to go work on his thesis.”

Chan hummed. “You haven’t even let me listen to it yet.”

“I was being polite.”

“Of course, of course,” he nodded, and once again, it was like someone flipped a switch inside his head. “Hey, you busy tomorrow?”

“Just more practicing I guess,” Seungsik said. “Why?”

Chan put on his best scammer smile, complete with sparkling eyes and dimples that seemed to go on for days. It was almost too hard to say no to. Almost.

“Never mind, I’m busy,” Seungsik said as he flopped over.

“Oh come on! You don’t even know what it is yet!” Chan whined. Seungsik could only begin to imagine what he had in mind. Did he need money? Not a problem. Did he need Seungsik to go sit in for one of his classes so he could go to another idol fansign? Kind of a problem. The range was unpredictable.

Seungsik sighed deeply, taking this risk because he was just going to keep batting his eyelashes at him if he didn’t at least ask. “What do you need?”

“So you know the school is having the charity carnival tomorrow, right,” Chan said.  _ Uh oh. _

“Yeah, what about it?”  _ Uh oh, uh oh. _

The annual charity carnival was a campus philanthropic event that most students used as an excuse to get out of class. There were tons of games with prizes, all kinds of foods, vendors, and a few performances, and all the proceeds went to a different charity or nonprofit each year. This year he was pretty sure that the fair funded orphanages across the country (food, medicine, clothing, diapers, etc.), but that was just from what he saw on Chan’s info packet.

Chan had signed up as a volunteer a month before to run one of the booths. He wasn’t doing so well in one of his classes, and he had found out that volunteers could get extra credit on any one of their final exams so the fair came as a godsend, only Chan had never mentioned  _ what _ he had signed up for. Seungsik had imagined it was something embarrassing that all of his friends would have lined up to clown him for like a dunking game or a pie in the face booth, but he had done an excellent job of being tight lipped about it, and Seungsik couldn’t afford to spend too much effort squeezing it out of him because he didn’t want Chan to retaliate and blow his whole library stake out cover thing.

“So, I had something come up,” Chan said, ringing his hands together.

“What kind of something,” Seungsik asked, his voice flat.

“So, it seems I have to pick up a shift at the campus bookstore,” he said, wary. 

“It seems?”

“Yes,” he said, tight lipped and without explanation.

“Alright…”

“And well, I can’t back out of the booth I’m supposed to run because like where am I gonna find someone I trust not to run off with the money,” he laughed awkwardly. “Except for like maybe my trusty and wholesome roommate who would never scam anyone.”

Seungsik squinted. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on! It’ll be fun! Think of the kids!”

Seungsik rubbed his temples and sighed. “Is it hard?”

“No! Not at all! You just basically stand around and look pretty!” 

“How long is it going to take,” he asked.

“Hmm, it’s for the whole carnival, but you’ll have to get there early to register,” Chan said, and his face looked pale like he knew Seungsik wasn’t going to be happy about it, but Seungsik wasn’t one to disappoint people…

“Alright,” he huffed. “I’ll do it, but you owe me.”

“Of course! Anything you want! I’ll even clean the dorm for a whole month! As a bonus!”

“Okay, okay,” he laughed, waving him off. “It’s for the kids, right?”

“Of course,” he nodded quickly. “Just make sure to write my name down when you register so I get credit.”

Seungsik squinted, and Chan flashed a bright smile.

“Thanks again! You’re the best!”

If Seungsik was a smart man, he would have asked more questions, or any questions at all, rather, but for some reason in that moment, he blindly trusted Chan with his future, his fate, and his pride. That’s why when he made it to the fair to register as a volunteer, he almost passed out in front of everyone from shock.

_ “A kissing both?!” _

“Ah yeah,” another student he didn’t know that well said, checking his clipboard. He was tall and gangly and smiled with all his teeth. His ID badge around his neck said Jinhyuk, but how could  _ not-Chan  _ be sure if that was really his name at all. “Looks like that’s what you signed up for. Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s not a problem,” Seungsik laughed awkwardly, his cheeks a burning shade of red. His mouth was dry, and his knees buckled. Sure, he had kissed before. He dated a bit in highschool, but it had been a  _ while _ and these were  _ strangers.  _ “I guess I must have thought it said  _ fishing booth  _ when I signed up.”

“Haha, yeah,” maybe-Jinhyuk said. “It happens! But don’t worry honestly no one ever goes for the mouth unless you’ve got friends with a few extra bucks to spare.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Seungsik laughed nervously. He imagined Chan puckering up with a crisp $1 bill between his fingers and felt the bile swirl in the back of his mouth. Surely, his annoying ass would have stayed at work like he was supposed to.  _ If he shows up and tries it, I’ll bite him.  _

But things weren’t so bad. He made his way to his booth that was tucked between one of those games where players tossed tiny hoops onto floating rubber duckies and the kind where players tossed bean bags into tiny buckets so he figured if no one wanted any kisses from him, maybe he could just get knocked out by one of the stray projectiles instead and call it a day.

Maybe-Jinhyuk and definitely-Wooseok (he and Seungsik had math together) manned the booths on either side of him, and their friends Yein and Dongyeol doubled up for a fruity lemonade stand on the other side of the path. (Yein offered to supply him with plenty of drinks if his mouth got dry, but he wasn’t sure what that much pineapple-ade would do to his breath or his bladder).

At least, if he had to suffer, he suffered among friends, and by friends he meant people who were nice enough not to laugh at him every time someone wandered up for a smooch.

It really wasn’t that bad, though. Every time someone approached him they were just as nervous as he was, but he soon figured out that they approached him  _ because  _ they wanted a kiss from him. They could have taken their dollars to the booths on either side where bears and fidget spinners and other prizes awaited, but no, they wandered up to his, pretending to read the sign like casual perusers at the market trying to make up their minds if they were brave enough to try for a kiss from him.

_ “He’s so cute.” _

_ “Look at his smile.” _

_ “Oh my god that’s the guy I was telling you about.” _

_ “He’s a music major, right?” _

_ “Yeah, he plays the cello?” _

_ “Do you think he’s seeing anyone?” _

_ “You should ask!” _

_ “No way! You ask!” _

_ “I could never! Just look at him!” _

_ “Please, please, please be single.” _

_ “You’ve got this!” _

_ “Please…” _

_ “I’ve got an extra dollar…” _

_ “Oh my god, are you serious?” _

_ “Yes! Go!” _

Seungsik smiled to himself, absorbing the attention like a sponge. He had never been  _ that guy _ before (that he was aware of), but he finally understood why Chan chose  _ this  _ booth. It was a welcome confidence boost, and even though he might never recover from the energy it gave him, he would try his best to not let it get to his head.

_ “Dude, he’s hot.” _

He would try…

Other than the giggling and the whispers, he actually didn’t really have to kiss anyone. For every dollar placed in his kissy jar, his cheek was taken, and when no one was looking, he wiped the spot off with a cleansing cloth to try to keep himself kissy-germ free for the next person. It wasn’t the worst way to raise money for a good cause… or spend a whole day, he supposed. Plus, Seungsik was a person who deserved kissies every once in a while.

Across campus, Seungwoo cursed himself for not waiting for the shuttle again. This was a workout he hadn’t asked for, but it was the workout he had received. 

The walk to the arts building wasn’t as bad as it was the day before. He started from his dorm that was positioned more in the middle of campus versus the library that was all the way on the opposite side, but still his legs and feet ached with every step, and he took it as a sign that he had been spending too much time sitting in one place studying instead of allowing his body the chance to  _ move.  _ Maybe if these walks became frequent, he could build his leg strength back up over time.  _ These walks _ .

Seungwoo had no idea why he was walking towards the arts building. Well, he did. He wanted to check on Seungsik. Maybe bring him a muffin if he looked hungry. Offer to listen to him play again. Give him a hug… Seungwoo winced. That was probably too much, but in his defense, Seungsik looked like the kind of person who was nice to hug so no one could blame him for wanting to. He smiled to himself and walked faster, almost breaking into a sprint.

The second time he entered the building, it was slightly more familiar to him. He glanced at the plaque at the entrance again and then moved back up the stairs and to the hall by muscle memory, but this time he didn’t hear a cello echoing through the halls. What he heard was much lighter and airy, and he wondered if Seungsik was practicing with a classmate. Of course he would have to because that was a piece of music that deserved to be played by a full orchestra.

He followed the sound to the end of the hall where he saw a single flautist glaring down a piece of sheet music like it had insulted his mother.  _ God, I’m glad I’m not a music major. _

He knocked on the door lightly to not startle him too much, but he wanted to get his attention before walking in. He looked up at him surprised and turned around to see if he was looking for him.

Seungwoo opened the door and stuck his head in. “Sorry, I was looking for someone. I was wondering if you’ve seen him.”

“Maybe,” he said, dropping his flute down to his side. “Who are you looking for.”

“Ah, his name’s Seungsik. He’s about yay-high. Kind of looks like a puppy. Plays the cello.”

“Oh! Yeah! Seungsik! Cello guy!” he exclaimed, and Seungwoo almost jumped in glee that he knew him. “No, I haven’t seen him today.”

_ Oh.  _

“Oh,” he said. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

The flautist hummed and walked over to a clipboard and picked it up. “Let me see… no, he’s not on the list to use the practice room today.”

“What about the other rooms?”

“You’d have to check,” he said. “I’m sorry I don’t know anything.”

“Thanks for your time,” Seungwoo said politely before leaving. He checked the other doors on his way out, but they were all locked so it seemed like none of the other practice rooms had been booked that day. He sighed, disappointed, but not all was ruined because there was still a chance Seungsik would be at the library later to read.

He perked up again with a new destination in mind. He saw him every day at the library so of course he was there. It just sucked that he was going to have to walk _all the way_ _there_ from the wrong side of school.

Worse, the school’s charity carnival had taken over the entire central part of campus so he had to go the long way around it. He did wish he could go to it, though. He wanted to play games and eat cotton candy and maybe get a little butterfly painted on his cheek. 

He sighed. There was also someone he wished he could go to the carnival with. Maybe when they finished studying, they could drop by later that afternoon together… in time to watch the fireworks...

As if he would ever have the courage to ask. He sighed again. Maybe Seungsik wouldn’t have wanted to go with him, though. He had his own friends. He didn’t even  _ like  _ him the way that Seungwoo did. After all, when they had to sit together for dinner, he kept inching away from him and fidgeting like he wanted to go home and then jumped at the chance when he could.

Seungwoo shook himself. There was no need in overthinking such a small interaction especially when he was supposed to be convincing himself that he had the courage to ask him to go to the fair with him. 

_ Hey did you know there’s a fair today? _

_ Why, no, Seungwoo, I did not! How exciting! _

_ Would you like to go see what games they have with me? _

_ Oh boy, would I!!! _

_ And then I would win him a big stuffed doggy with floppy ears, and he could win me a big stuffed fox with a big bushy tail. And we could hold hands! Yes! _

Seungwoo hurried off to the library and took his seat in his favorite spot, but Seungsik wasn’t there yet. It was still kind of early, and they both usually only showed up in the afternoons after their classes, but there weren’t any classes that day. It was surely an unpredictable situation.

A couple hours passed with no Seungsik in sight, and he did okay until someone took Seungsik’s usual seat and he almost jumped up and chased them off, but he couldn’t do that. This was a public place, and there wasn’t assigned seating at the library. Still though, he didn’t like it.

It felt like an omen that he wasn’t going to get to see him at all that day and maybe not again until at least Monday, if he even showed up then…

“Seungsik!” a friendly voice cried out. Seungsik shrank back and looked around until he saw him. Byungchan strode up to the booth with a flashy smile on his face. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

“I’m helping Chan out,” he explained calmly.  _ Please don’t make a scene. I’m begging you. _

“Is that so,” he scratched his chin. “Where  _ is _ Chan?”

“He said he had to take a shift at the school bookstore,” Seungsik said. 

“The bookstore,” Byungchan laughed. “Isn’t it closed?”

“It’s what,” he paled.

Byungchan broke out in a fit of giggles, his gums on full display. “You got tricked into running a kissing booth! God this is funny, take a selfie with me.”

“No,” he shouted, distressed. “Where the hell is he? Give me your phone.”

“Nuh uh, I’m not getting involved,” Byungchan said, waving his hands. “Oh, but while I’m here…”

He wiggled his eyebrows as he slid a single bill onto the counter. He tapped his cheek twice and leaned towards him. Seungsik rolled his eyes, but he actually adored Byungchan so much that he found it endearing. He left a quick peck on his cheek which resulted in a shrill giggle and a little foot shuffle from Byungchan as he hopped away.

“Did you get that,” Byungchan called out. 

“Yeah, I got it,” Chan appeared with his phone out, recording the whole event. “Ahhhh, it’s so cute, I’m going to make this my Christmas card.”

“You!” Seungsik shouted, pointing at him threateningly.

“Op, op, op,” Chan warned. “You can’t leave the booth unmanned! Think of the kids!”

“Come here,” Seungsik cried out, reaching out his hands like he was going to grab him by his neck.

“Oh, come on! You’re doing so well!” Chan laughed happily. “I’ve never seen a more dedicated smoocher!”

“ _ Chan _ ,” he shouted.

“I thought you were Chan,” probably-Jinhyuk said, and Seungsik realized that the other volunteers were all closely invested in their conversation.

He laughed awkwardly and nodded at everyone listening. “No, he’s Chan. I was filling in for him because he had to work.”

“Thank you for always being there for me,” Chan said solemnly with his hands on his own chest. “From the bottom of my heart, really.”

“I will kill you and feed you to a family of geese,” he said through his teeth.

Chan laughed awkwardly, stepping away. “Hey, Byungchan, wanna go get some snow cones?”

“I love snow cones,” Byungchan shouted, and the two of them took off quickly before they could face Seungsik’s wrath. Seungsik sighed and rested his head on the booth. Chan had tricked him and made a big joke out of him in front of all these people. What a terrible way to spend a day. He couldn’t think of what he had ever done to deserve this.

But he still had a job to do, and he had raised a  _ lot  _ of food and diaper money for the orphans. Even with all the teasing he was going to face, that was enough to make him feel okay with it. Surely for this, karma was on his side.

More time passed without any sign of Seungsik, and even though Seungwoo had typed several pages worth, he was about ready to give up and go work in his dorm instead. It just wasn’t the same without being able to sneak glances at Seungsik whenever he needed to take a break. He decided that just an hour more, and he would go home.

“Heyyyyyy,” Sejun said, too loudly for a library, appearing out of thin air. Seungwoo jumped. “How’s it going, buddy?”

His other friend Hanse was there, and the two of them started packing his things for him.

“What are you doing,” he asked.

“Getting you out of here,” Sejun said.

“It’s very covert, Hanse added, neatly stacking his research papers up with a thin smile.

“Guys, I can’t,” he whispered, afraid of getting in trouble with the library staff. “I’ll see you when I’m done.”

“But you are done,” Sejun said happily. “Let’s get out of here. Have you been to the carnival yet? It’s so much fun. Right, Hanse?”

“It’s  _ so _ much fun,” Hanse said with an equally happy smile. Seungwoo felt like he was being set up, but he wasn’t sure for what exactly. 

The next thing Seungwoo knew, he was being dragged out by his two best friends against his will, and he couldn’t even protest because that would have been too noisy. 

“Where are we going,” he demanded as he stumbled out onto the path.

“The fair!” Sejun and Hanse shouted in unison, a sight too eerie for words.

“I don’t like this,” he mumbled, but he followed them anyway.

“Trust me, you’re going to love it,” Sejun said. 

The three of them wound their way through the maze of attractions. Most of the shabbier rides were ignored in favor of the snacks and games. His stomach rumbled as he was pulled past a stand with chili cheese fries in boxes the size of his head. He might have forgiven them for taking him away from the library if they would have let him have some.

They passed the dartboards and the petting zoo (one goat with a little bell), and then they passed what looked to be a stand with fried donut balls on a stick, and it seemed that they were never going to slow down, but then Seungwoo came to a screeching halt, and Sejun and Hanse let him.

The first thing he saw was the lemonade stand, but he happened to look over in time to see that the people manning the stand were talking to the volunteers on the other side, and one of  _ those  _ volunteers happened to be Seungsik.

Seungsik was there all along, and he hadn’t noticed him yet. He decided he had to turn around and run because there was no way to explain himself, but before he got the chance, it was like glass shattered.

“Sejun!” Chan shouted, waving with his arms over his head. “Over here!”

“Hey!” Sejun shouted back. He headed towards him, and there was no turning back at that point. He had to suck it up and play it cool until either Sejun or Hanse wandered off to go play something and he could follow them. “What a coincidence!”

“Quite so!” Chan said loudly. 

Seungsik, upon hearing familiar voices, looked up to see what was going on, and his heart sank to the floor. Seungwoo was there with his friends while Seungsik was running a  _ kissing booth  _ of all things! What kind of person did he look like! How could he quickly explain that he had been tricked by Chan without looking like an idiot?! 

He had to think fast because they were coming right for him.

“Hey,” he said, more to Seungwoo than to the others. He caught himself and greeted Sejun and Hanse quickly.

“Hey,” Seungwoo said back. He glanced up at the sign above Seungsik’s head, and his eyes widened. A kissing booth? Seungsik? Well, it was for charity he supposed, but it seemed a little bit out of character for him. He probably received a ton of donations though. If Seungwoo had a dollar or two on him and was brave enough, he surely would have jumped at the chance to kiss him. For charity. Of course. “A kissing booth?”

“Yeah, I’m covering for Chan because he couldn’t make it,” he said.

“He’s right there,” Seungwoo blinked.

“Yeah.”

Seungwoo snorted. “He tricked you?”

“Yep,” he said, pained. “I’ll get him though.”

“Do you want help?”

Seungsik laughed. “I would love help.”

Not that Seungwoo would have ever admitted it, but knowing that Chan put the guy he had a crush on in a position where he had to kiss everyone on campus but him made him want to seek revenge on his own.

“I was wondering where you were today,” he mused instead. 

“Oh,” he laughed. “Yeah, I’ve been here since about 8 this morning.”

“You must be exhausted,” Seungwoo said. “Kissing all these people…”

“It’s not so bad,” Seungsik said, cringing at himself. It was worse than he could have imagined. Like, it was exactly how he had imagined, but it was actually happening which made it worse. “I get free lemonade.”

Seungwoo hummed, trying to find a reason to tear himself away. He didn’t want Seungsik to find out how much the  _ kiss me  _ sign was eating him alive, but before he could come up with anything. He felt someone shove their hand into his pocket.

“Don’t say I never did anything for you,” Sejun mumbled quietly before walking off to stand with Chan, leaving him alone in front of the booth quite on display. He frowned and reached into his pocket to see what he had done, and the cold brush of paper touched his fingertips. It was a bank note. It was a kiss from Seungsik literally in the palm of his hand.

Completely on auto-pilot, he pulled the money out and set it on the counter, his heart pounding in his chest so much he could barely breathe. Seungsik blanched. 

“It’s for a good cause, right?” Seungwoo said.  _ Please be cool, please be cool, please be cool.  _ He begged himself to stay calm. This was insane, and the most  _ fuck it _ thing he had ever done in his life, but it was too late to back out. He had bought a kiss.

“Right,” he laughed. “For the kids.”

“For the kids,” he repeated, staring at him with too much hope. 

Seungsik looked down and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.  _ “Uhhhhh…” _

Seungwoo’s eyebrows drew together, confused, but when he looked down, he almost choked. That little demon had stuffed a $20 in his back pocket.

“Do you want change for that,” he asked quietly.

“Do I want change for that…?” Seungwoo asked out loud in Sejun’s direction. Sejun, Hanse, Chan, and Byungchan, who were watching from a distance, shook their heads no. “No?”

_ “No?!” _

“No, I guess I don’t,” he said, his throat painfully dry. He turned back to Seungsik and realized that he was going to kiss him twenty times. For charity. He swallowed. “No, I don’t.”

“Right, okay,” Seungsik said, bouncing in place. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he said back.

“Okay.”

There was no need to stand around on ceremony. This was a thing Seungsik had probably done hundreds of times that day, and he, as a participant, was no different than the other students who dropped by his booth. But that didn’t change the fact that Seungwoo was so nervous that he wanted to run away and transfer schools. He took a deep breath, and the two of them leaned forward towards each other over the counter.

Seungsik was about to turn his cheek towards him like he did everyone else when their lips pressed together. It was soft but firm, and it felt like he had been punched in the chest. Seungwoo was the only person who dared to kiss him on the mouth, but it was  _ Seungwoo.  _ Seungwoo had  _ kissed him _ . Charity or not, it had happened, and it took everything he had to keep from screaming.

_ One.  _

Seungwoo pulled back a little to break the kiss to leave another. It was smoother the second time, both learning how to find each other. Even though he was just as nervous, it immediately became easier. 

_ Two.  _

Seungsik gripped the side of the counter to keep himself from falling over. Every other kiss that day had happened so fast that he didn’t need to balance himself, but this time he wasn’t in a hurry to finish. This was worth falling over for.

_ Three. _

In that moment, Seungwoo thought that this was what a kiss was supposed to feel like. It was simple and chaste, but it was familiar, almost natural. It was like kissing a long term lover, and he didn’t notice himself move.

_ Four.  _

A hand touched Seungsik’s jaw carefully, and cupped him as the kiss that was supposed to be a friendly peck deepened. His fingers were long and soft and made him feel like the pages of a book gently being turned over. In that moment, Seungsik had become the subject that Seungwoo studied so carefully.

_ Five. _

Their heads tilted, and Seungwoo heard him inhale deeply. He didn’t push him away, but he didn’t pull back to convince him to take his money back either. He was fine with it?

_ Six. _

_ Seven. _

_ Eight. _

Seungsik knew he was screwed because as their lips moved together more fluidly, he imagined kissing him in more places that had nothing to do with charity fairs. He wanted to kiss him in their dorms or against bookshelves or secretly in music rooms.

_ Nine.  _

_ Ten.  _

The outside world around them disappeared and even the sounds of the carnival faded into nothing. This was heaven.

_ Eleven. _

_ Twelve. _

Seungsik’s mouth tasted faintly like pineapple and citrus from the lemonade, and Seungwoo didn’t mean to slip his tongue in between his teeth (he was sure  _ tongue  _ wasn’t allowed), but he craved more. It was sweeter than candy and slightly tart in a way that made him want to buy whatever it was that he had been drinking. And if it wasn’t allowed, Seungwoo would take whatever punishment awaited him just to taste him again.

_ Thirteen. _

_ Fourteen. _

_ Fifteen. _

Two small gasps for air broke between them.

_ Sixteen. _

_ Seventeen. _

A small noise escaped from Seungsik as he invited him in again, and he felt Seungwoo smile. He was sure he would laugh at him for it later if they could ever face each other again, but he didn’t care.

_ Eighteen. _

_ Nineteen. _

“Twenty,” Seungwoo said against his mouth, slightly out of breath. He pulled away and looked down, his cheeks and ears flushed a bright red.

“You kept count?” Seungsik said, bracing himself up.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to take more than I donated,” he said. “And I’m out of money… right?”

He turned towards Sejun who was watching with his shirt covering the lower half of his face with glee.

“Oh! Right!” Sejun shouted. He patted his pockets frantically, looking for more, and shook his head with regret that he was out on money.

“Oh!”

“Wait!”

“Oh!”

The others chimed in and started fishing out their wallets too. 

_ For fucks sake please someone have a dollar! _

While Seungwoo prayed that one of their friends would come through, Seungsik let out a distressed wail and collapsed on the ground. He crawled underneath the counter and hid beneath the booth with all the other donations and cleansing cloths.

“Oh god, what have I done,” Seungsik said, folding himself into a little ball. 

Chan ran over immediately and crouched down with him. He put his hands on Seungsik’s knees to balance himself and looked at him with concern. “Are you okay?”

Seungsik nodded, but he was  _ not  _ okay. He had just made out with the love of his life for charity in front of everyone he knew!

“Is he still out there,” he whispered.

“Uhhh,” Chan said, looking up at Seungwoo who looked just as horrified. 

_ “Yeah,”  _ Seungwoo said.

“Oh god,” he cried out. “I can almost hear his voice.”

“Dude, that was his voice,” Chan whispered.

“Oh no, he’s still here,” he screeched.

Seungwoo wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Chan looked up at him and shrugged like he didn’t know either, but Seungwoo couldn’t just let him freak out by himself down there. At least he could apologize and assure him that it was just a charity thing, and that it didn’t mean anything at all even if it meant everything...

He crossed over to the vendor side and crouched down too. Chan got up and gave him some room, but Seungsik’s face was covered too well to realize it was him.

“Seungsik?”

He looked at him through his fingers, and Seungwoo had to physically hold himself back from holding his hands.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, not that fine at all.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No! Of course not!” Seungsik said, finally dropping his hands. “Really!”

Seungwoo took them in his so he couldn’t hide anymore. “Then what’s wrong?”

“I’m a little overwhelmed I think,” he said, half grimacing. “You know, our first kiss… like that.”

“Hmm?” 

Seungwoo pretended to be calm and soothing, but the words  _ our first kiss _ made him want to crawl under a booth of his own too and have his own little McMeltdown. They had kissed. Years of not kissing him, and then  _ boom  _ making out for charity. Of course Seungsik was freaking out! Seungwoo was freaking out too!

Seungsik looked up at him and took a haggard breath. He had kissed him  _ a lot  _ when he didn’t have to, and there he was holding his hands and being an angel, and Seungsik wanted to kiss him again. Without the countdown or the audience.

“I won’t do it again if it upsets you,” Seungwoo said quietly. “I shouldn’t have…”

“Again,” Seungsik interrupted him, with curious eyes. “That’s an option?”

Seungwoo’s throat went dry again.

_ “Yeah,” _ he said quietly and dumbly. Seungsik laughed, relaxing. “You wanna go somewhere and talk about it maybe?”

“I can’t right now,” he frowned, looking up to his booth above his head.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Seungwoo winced. “You’re busy.”

“Just a little bit,” he said softly, turning his hands slightly to hold him back.

“Seungwoo, we found more dollars,” Hanse called out. “The other volunteer guys chipped in too.”

“Cool, thanks,” Seungwoo shouted, mildly horrified. Seungsik covered his face again like he was going to scream.

“Don’t you wanna know how much,” Hanse asked.

“Nope, not really,” Seungwoo called out before leaning back in and catching Seungsik’s mouth. His breath hitched as their lips touched again, but instead of politely accepting his ambiguously numbered charity kisses like he was supposed to, he parted his lips and grabbed him, falling back from losing his balance. Seungsik’s head hit the booth’s plywood with an awkward thud and he hissed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, gasping for air. He pulled at him like Seungwoo was his last lifeline, and Seungwoo pushed him deeper into the booth, almost bringing the two of them down to the ground, sliding his hand behind his head to protect it.

“Two minutes,” Chan said, knocking on the board from above.

“Got it, thanks,” Seungsik shouted before lowering his voice. “I’m on a break now.”

“Great,” he said, planting kisses over his mouth and cheeks. “You’ve been working hard.”

“Three if y'all stop talking,” Chan said, a little strained.

“Got it!” Seungwoo and Seungsik both shouted.

Three minutes later, they stood up swollen lipped and delirious. Years of mistakenly unrequited feelings came crashing down at once, and the sudden glow of sunlight on their sensitive eyes didn’t help the feeling at all. The small crowd of friends they had, including the other volunteers, cheered and clapped for them.

They took a step away from each other, shy and in the spotlight. Seungsik looked at Chan who smiled proudly at his handywork. 

“You still mad?” Chan asked.

“No,” Seungsik eyed Seungwoo. 

“Good,” he said, rubbing his hands together. He walked up to him and pulled the lanyard up from around Seungsik’s neck and placed it around his own. “Now go enjoy your date.”

“What date?” Seungsik asked, and even Seungwoo looked like he had no idea what was going on.

Chan put his hands on his hips. “You mean to tell me that after all that we went through to get you two to finally go for it, you’re  _ not _ going to go play games with him?”

_ “We?!” _

Sejun, Byungchan, and Hanse turned away, looking especially guilty.

Seungwoo coughed.  _ “Guys?” _

“What were we supposed to do,” Sejun whined. “You two wouldn’t do shit, and we couldn’t take it anymore!”

Seungwoo and Seungsik stood there in disbelief, unable to say anything.

“Did you change your mind,” Chan asked.

“No,” Seungsik said quietly.

“Did  _ you?” _

“No,” Seungwoo said.

“Good, now get out of here before I change  _ my _ mind,” Chan said, turning towards the booth display. “You’re scaring away my kisses.”

Seungsik turned to Seungwoo, searching his face for an answer. 

“Do you want to…” Seungwoo asked.

“Do you?”

“Yes!” Chan, Sejun, Byungchan, Hanse, Jinhyuk, Wooseok, Yein, Dongyeol, and three other people Seungsik didn’t recognize shouted.

The two of them immediately shrunk back and stumbled away, humiliated enough that they wanted to put as much space between them and their friends as they could, even though they were still too shy to face each other.

Once they got a fair enough distance away, Seungsik’s hand somehow found Seungwoo’s, or maybe it was the other way around. They walked together casually with their fingers intertwined like nothing had happened, but he still trembled from either nerves or adrenaline.

“Can I ask you something,” Seungwoo said as they wandered towards a vacant bench.

“Sure,” he said. His thoughts raced as he tried to guess what Seungwoo might have wanted to ask him. He couldn’t handle anything too dramatic, though. He was too far away from his booth/hiding place.

“That kiss…”

“Yeah?”

“Was it okay,” he asked quietly. “Like compared to the other ones… I was nervous…”

“You were the only one who,” Seungsik’s voice trailed off. “Everyone else was cheek only.”

“Oh god,” Seungwoo covered his face. “I’m so stupid! Of course it was cheek only! What kind of idiot!”

“No!” Seungsik reached out and cupped his face in his hands. “You’re not an idiot… I’m glad you did it.”

“Are you sure…”

“Of course,” he said, squeezing his cheeks slightly to smoosh them together. “You can… anytime you want…”

Seungwoo reached up and grabbed one of his hands and pulled it down to his side. “Can I?”

“Yeah,” he said, choking slightly. “I mean, if you want.”

“I want to,” he said, looking down at his feet.

“Me too,” he said shyly. “Seungwoo?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he said.

“You don’t have a boyfriend, right,” Seungsik asked. “Or a girlfriend? Or like anyone like that?”

“No,” he laughed. “I don’t imagine anyone would want to date someone they had to spend all their time at the library with.”

“I would,” Seungsik blurted out. At least he didn’t say that he literally did spend all his time at the library for him every single day, but they probably weren’t ready to have that conversation yet.

Seungwoo chuckled to himself. “Are you asking me out?”

“I think so,” he said. “Is that a bad idea?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s not.”

Seungsik smiled to himself and took his hand again, liking the way the weight of it felt in his too much to let go. “So what now?”

Seungwoo frowned and scratched his chin as he thought, looking out at the rest of the fair. “Chili cheese fries probably aren’t a good first date food, are they?”

Seungsik laughed, pleased. “I think they are the only first date food. Come on, it’s my treat.”

_ “Your  _ treat,” Seungwoo asked, amused.

Seungsik bit his lip and tried not to break into a smile. “I think you might be out of money.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I kind of got carried away here, but I really hope it was fun to read. Please let me know what you think 💙
> 
> I can be found on twitter @hugsubin c:


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